Lost And Found
by momoxtoshiro
Summary: He knew she was going to walk away just like all the others. He would give her thirty seconds.


**What else to think about on a 45-minute drive to college than RWBY fic ideas? Finally I got a Renora idea, though it is kinda just a little sad thing... Younger fic, so I'd say they're about seven.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.**

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Lost And Found

The city was painted gray in a cruel loneliness, a thick mist rising up from the beaten streets and concrete sidewalks that were cracked from countless footsteps.

The gutters were clogged with leaves and trash, all of which was washed out into the streets by the viciously tranquil rain. Downcast skies overhead showered down mercilessly - angry and yet somehow calm.

Ren always wondered why it rained. Were the clouds crying? Probably for all of the people in the world who could not cry for themselves.

Like him.

He sat in the ragged clothing his parents had left him with, the same clothes he had not changed from in over two... three weeks? He could not remember anymore.

He had lost track of time, lost count of the days. Nothing mattered anymore anyway. He was alone in the world, dreadfully and utterly alone.

He sat with his back pressed against the cold brick wall of the alleyway, cramped between two miserable buildings, the dumpster to his left keeping him from view of the passerby.

The rain continued to soak into his long, drenched hair, into his thin clothing, into his bones. He had not eaten in four days, lost the will to try to. Rummaging through the trash was too troublesome and no person would hardly spare him a glance.

He was only seven years old, and yet he felt like an old man, probably looked like one too. He could feel the bones jutting out all over his body, and he was so hungry his stomach had forgotten how to growl.

It had already been weeks, and yet he could still not forget the events that had transpired before all had gone amiss.

He had lived a good life for seven years, lived in a nice house, had a nice room...

But then the robbers had come. They took the things in the house, but material possessions were not all they stole from him.

They had taken his parents as well.

The scene of their brutal murder was forever plastered into his mind - his mother's cold, lifeless eyes as her jaws parted in one final scream for him to run, his father's strong hands that reached out to him crushed by heavy boots.

Blood sprayed around the living room as his parents were shot again and again and _again_.

Ren had been too much of a coward to even move from the closet his mother had shoved him into in her final display of her love.

Only hours after the men had left and the authorities arrived did he slither out. They had tried to take him away, but he wanted nothing of it. He wanted his parents back. He did not want to be put into an orphanage.

So he ran off to hide in the alleys, and if he was lucky, wither away and die so he could be with his mother and father again.

Even now, he looked up to the dark sky and wondered. _Mom... Dad... Can you take me today?_

But evidently, after hearing him ask that repeatedly after twenty days, his parents had decided to send him a message...

Ren closed his eyes, trying to remember and forget at the same time. He heard footsteps pass him by, hurried and frantic to get out of the rain. Ren just wanted to drown in it.

But then, there was a distinct patter of feet that approached him. It was a slower, more cautious pace, how he would imagine himself walking up to a stray dog.

He blinked his eyes open to glance at the person who stood above him now.

A girl stared down at him with vibrant teal eyes, far too lively for the dreary picture of this town.

Her shoulder-length hair was dark brown and matted with mud, but past the surface layer, he could tell there was a more luscious, ginger layer underneath.

She wore the same kind of bedraggled clothing he did – worn and torn but just enough to keep the bare minimum of warmth against her skin. She blinked down at him, subdued when she saw the dullness in his eyes.

He knew she was going to walk away just like all the others. He would give her thirty seconds.

She took in his exhausted expression, his hopeless posture, his deathly silence.

He just wanted to be alone.

Ren watched her with unblinking eyes, trying to predict what she would do – laugh at him or just run off.

But she did neither of those things.

Instead, she did something that surprised Ren, reminding him for the first time in so many days of a feeling other than grief or vacancy.

A ray of sunshine cut through the suffocating clouds as she smiled.

Then, she pulled a piece of bread from the rags of her pocket. It was small and wet and would not even suffice to stave off her hunger for anything more than a few minutes.

And yet she broke it into halves and handed him one.

He was dumbfounded as he reached up his hand and she dropped the food into his palm.

Still smiling, the girl plopped down to sit beside him, leaning into his face and poking his nose with her index finger.

"_Boop!_"

Her voice was like an angel's after he had struggled through the rivers of hell.

Without even realizing it, Ren's lips curved ever so slightly upward as his eyes met hers. Her grin widened as well, and he found that he wanted to hear her speak some more.

And she did.

"My name's Nora! What's yours?"

Ren slid slightly closer to her as he opened his mouth to introduce himself.

Maybe he would give her a little longer than thirty seconds.

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**A/N: Ah this could have been a whole lot better but I'll just leave it... And yeah definitely totally not how they met but just an idea I got and yeah ahah.**

**Please review!**


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